Tashkent Declaration

The meeting was hosted by the Soviet Union in the city of Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from 4 to 10 January 1966 in an attempt to create a more permanent settlement between the warring sides.

The Soviets, represented by Soviet politician Aleksei Kosygin, moderated between Indian prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Pakistani president Muhammad Ayub Khan.{{Cite news|url=https://www.rbth.com/arts/history/2016/01/12/at-tashkent-soviet-peace-over-india-and-pakistan_558665|title=At Tashkent, Soviet peace over India and Pakistan|last=Bratersky|first=Alexander|date=12 January 2016|access-date=24 July 2020|language=en-US|website=Russia Beyond website}}{{Cite news|url=http://soviethistory.msu.edu/1968-2/third-world-friendships/third-world-friendships-texts/tashkent-declaration/|title=Tashkent Declaration|date=2015-09-01|work=Seventeen Moments in Soviet History|access-date=2018-01-10|language=en-US}}

A declaration was released that was hoped to be a framework for lasting peace by stating that the Indian military and the Pakistani military would pull back to their pre-conflict positions, their pre-August lines, no later than 25 February 1966; neither nation would interfere in each other's internal affairs; economic and diplomatic relations would be restored; there would be an orderly transfer of prisoners of war, and both leaders would work towards improving bilateral relations.

The treaty was heavily criticized in both countries, as Indians and Pakistanis were expecting more concessions to their respective sides than what had been agreed upon. In accordance with the Tashkent Declaration, talks were held at the ministerial level on 1 and 2 March 1966. Despite the fact that these talks were unproductive, the diplomatic exchange continued throughout the spring and summer, though stark differences of opinion on the Kashmir conflict culminated in the lack of a resolution from bilateral discussions.

In India, the agreement was criticized because it did not contain a no-war pact or any renunciation of guerrilla warfare across Kashmir. After the Tashkent Declaration was signed, Indian prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri died under mysterious circumstances in Tashkent; his sudden death led to the rise of conspiracy theories claiming that he was poisoned.{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/45-yrs-on-Shastris-death-a-mystery/articleshow/4764773.cms|title=45 yrs on, Shastri's death a mystery|last=Dhawan|first=Himanshi|date=11 July 2009|work=The Times of India|access-date=10 January 2018}} Journalist, conspiracy theorist,{{cite book |last1=Douglas |first1=Gregory |title=Regicide: The Official Assassination of John F. Kennedy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6GgMAAAACAAJ |publisher=Castle Hill Pub |language=en |date=2002|isbn=9781591482970 }}{{cite web |last1=Weber |first1=Mark |title=Not Quite the Hitler Diaries - Gestapo Chief (Review) |url=http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v20/v20n2p40_Douglas.html |website=www.ihr.org |access-date=28 January 2023}} and holocaust denier{{cite web |last1=Douglas |first1=Gregory |title=Conversations With The Crow |url=https://archive.org/details/conversations-with-the-crow-pdf/page/n55/mode/2up?q=gas+chambers |access-date=28 January 2023}} Gregory Douglas claimed he conducted a series of interviews with American intelligence officer Robert Crowley in 1993. According to Douglas, Crowley claimed that the Central Intelligence Agency assassinated Shastri as well as Indian nuclear scientist Homi J. Bhabha (who died on Air India Flight 101) in order to thwart the development of India's nuclear weapons programme.{{Cite book |last=Douglas |first=Gregory |title=Conversations with the Crow |publisher=Basilisk Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0991175208 |pages=66–67 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Unrevealed |first=Files |date=2021-09-23 |title=Homi Bhabha's Death: An Unfortunate Accident or the Hands of the Crow |url=https://www.unrevealedfiles.com/homi-bhabhas-death-an-unfortunate-accident-or-the-hands-of-the-crow/ |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=Unrevealed Files |language=en-US}}{{Third-party inline|date=September 2023|reason=none of the sources are RS}} The Indian government has refused to declassify a report on his death under the claim that it would harm India's foreign relations, cause disruption in the country, and breach parliamentary privileges.

In Pakistan, the agreement caused widespread distress; social upset was exacerbated after Pakistani president Muhammad Ayub Khan went into seclusion in the ceasefire's aftermath, as demonstrations and riots erupted across the country.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mapsofindia.com/on-this-day/june-30-1965-a-ceasefire-is-agreed-under-un-auspices-between-india-and-pakistan-to-stop-the-war-at-the-rann-of-kutch|title=June 30th 1965: A Ceasefire was Agreed under UN Auspices Between India and Pakistan, Who Signed a Treaty to Stop the War at Rann of Kutch|website=MapsofIndia.com|date=30 June 2014|access-date=24 July 2020}} However, Khan later addressed the nation on 14 January 1966 and explained the rationale behind the agreement. Although he was eventually able to quell the unrest, the Tashkent Declaration greatly damaged Khan's image, and was one of the factors that ultimately led to his downfall in 1969.[https://www.thefridaytimes.com/tft/the-falling-out-at-tashkent-1966/ The falling out at Tashkent (1966) between Ayub Khan and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto] The Friday Times (newspaper), Updated 4 November 2016, Retrieved 24 July 2020{{cite book |last1=Lieven |first1=Anatol |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=exBKSo-Pf6cC&q=Bengali%20Pakistani%20people%5C&pg=PT77 |title=Pakistan: A Hard Country |publisher=PublicAffairs |year=2012 |isbn=978-1610391627 |language=en |access-date=23 December 2016}}

{{Portal|Tashkent}}

• India–Pakistan conflict
• Karachi Agreement (1949)
• Shimla Agreement (1972)

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://peacemaker.un.org/node/1487 Full text of Tashkent Declaration ], UN Peacemaker
• [http://peacemaker.un.org/document-search?keys=&field_padate_value%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=&field_pacountry_tid=india All peace agreement for India], UN Peacemaker
• [http://peacemaker.un.org/document-search?keys=&field_padate_value%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=&field_pacountry_tid=pakistan All peace agreements for Pakistan], UN Peacemaker

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